Average reading scale score, by age and amount of time spent on reading and homework: Selected years, 1984 through 2004

Time spent on reading and homework

9-year-olds

13-year-olds

17-year-olds

1984

1994

1996

1999

2004

1984

1994

1996

1999

2004

1984

1994

1996

1999

2004

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Average scale score

Materials read a few times a year or more

Poems

211

(1.9)

210

(2.9)

215

(2.8)

213

(2.7)

—

(†)

260

(1.2)

261

(2.3)

262

(2.5)

263

(1.9)

—

(†)

290

(1.5)

293

(2.1)

294

(2.8)

292

(2.6)

—

(†)

Plays

211

(2.5)

207

(3.0)

214

(4.1)

211

(3.7)

—

(†)

260

(1.3)

263

(2.1)

262

(2.4)

264

(2.3)

—

(†)

290

(1.7)

294

(2.4)

293

(2.3)

294

(2.7)

—

(†)

Biographies

213

(2.4)

210

(3.4)

220

(3.2)

215

(3.0)

—

(†)

261

(1.3)

261

(2.1)

262

(2.3)

263

(2.1)

—

(†)

292

(1.4)

293

(2.4)

293

(2.3)

291

(2.8)

—

(†)

Science books

212

(1.6)

211

(2.6)

214

(2.0)

213

(2.1)

—

(†)

259

(1.2)

260

(2.1)

261

(2.2)

261

(1.7)

—

(†)

289

(1.4)

293

(2.4)

290

(2.2)

291

(2.3)

—

(†)

Books about other times

211

(1.7)

211

(2.6)

213

(2.3)

213

(2.5)

—

(†)

259

(1.1)

260

(2.2)

262

(2.2)

262

(2.1)

—

(†)

289

(1.4)

293

(2.3)

292

(2.8)

292

(2.0)

—

(†)

Frequency of reading for fun

Daily

214

(1.1)

215

(2.3)

213

(2.0)

215

(2.4)

220

(1.5)

264

(1.4)

272

(3.2)

269

(3.3)

272

(3.2)

271

(2.8)

297

(1.5)

302

(4.2)

302

(5.2)

301

(4.9)

305

(3.7)

Weekly

212

(1.7)

214

(3.1)

212

(2.6)

215

(2.6)

224

(2.2)

255

(1.4)

255

(3.1)

258

(3.2)

263

(3.2)

261

(2.3)

290

(1.7)

286

(4.1)

293

(4.0)

289

(2.9)

288

(4.3)

Monthly

204

(3.3)

213

(5.8)

210

(5.0)

211

(4.2)

216

(4.6)

255

(2.1)

255

(5.7)

259

(4.6)

260

(3.7)

256

(3.9)

290

(1.8)

286

(4.5)

290

(5.6)

286

(4.8)

287

(4.7)

Yearly

197

(4.2)

—

(†)

—

(†)

—

(†)

209

(4.6)

252

(3.6)

252

(5.4)

—

(†)

253

(4.4)

‡

(†)

279

(2.7)

281

(8.2)

285

(5.6)

283

(4.4)

272

(5.0)

Never

198

(2.7)

193

(3.9)

199

(4.3)

195

(3.3)

203

(4.4)

239

(2.5)

237

(5.1)

236

(4.8)

242

(5.3)

236

(3.9)

269

(2.4)

258

(5.2)

270

(5.0)

262

(5.0)

268

(5.8)

Reading of books, newspapers, and magazines

Yearly/monthly

207

(1.6)

206

(3.8)

208

(3.1)

209

(2.9)

—

(†)

244

(1.7)

245

(3.7)

249

(3.4)

252

(2.9)

—

(†)

270

(2.0)

279

(4.0)

275

(4.5)

276

(3.8)

—

(†)

Weekly

219

(2.5)

216

(3.7)

221

(4.7)

220

(3.5)

—

(†)

261

(1.6)

262

(2.6)

262

(3.0)

261

(3.3)

—

(†)

288

(1.5)

295

(2.8)

294

(3.2)

292

(2.2)

—

(†)

Daily

211

(3.8)

—

(†)

—

(†)

214

(6.3)

—

(†)

269

(2.2)

275

(3.9)

270

(3.4)

271

(4.0)

—

(†)

299

(1.9)

296

(4.0)

295

(4.8)

299

(6.5)

—

(†)

Time spent on homework

None

212

(0.9)

213

(2.0)

210

(1.9)

210

(1.9)

217

(2.0)

254

(1.0)

250

(1.7)

254

(1.3)

251

(2.0)

248

(1.7)

276

(0.8)

273

(2.3)

274

(1.9)

275

(2.3)

270

(2.0)

Didn't do assignment

199

(2.1)

200

(4.3)

196

(5.2)

204

(4.4)

204

(4.1)

247

(1.7)

243

(5.6)

249

(3.3)

249

(4.2)

245

(3.4)

287

(1.4)

285

(2.1)

281

(2.2)

282

(3.1)

279

(2.7)

Less than 1 hour

217

(0.8)

212

(1.4)

215

(1.0)

214

(1.5)

221

(1.0)

261

(0.6)

261

(1.3)

258

(1.6)

262

(1.2)

261

(1.2)

290

(0.9)

288

(1.6)

289

(1.5)

291

(2.3)

287

(1.6)

1 to 2 hours

216

(1.4)

214

(3.0)

219

(2.1)

215

(3.2)

221

(2.3)

267

(0.8)

268

(1.7)

266

(1.6)

269

(1.6)

268

(1.6)

296

(0.8)

297

(1.7)

296

(2.1)

296

(2.0)

295

(1.7)

More than 2 hours

201

(1.9)

193

(6.1)

199

(4.5)

197

(3.5)

207

(3.2)

265

(1.2)

270

(2.4)

268

(2.3)

269

(3.0)

272

(2.0)

303

(1.4)

306

(3.1)

307

(3.4)

300

(2.8)

304

(2.4)

Percent

Materials read a few times a year or more

Poems

70

(1.5)

62

(2.3)

60

(1.9)

64

(2.4)

—

(†)

68

(1.3)

79

(1.4)

80

(1.9)

77

(1.6)

—

(†)

76

(1.1)

85

(2.2)

80

(1.8)

85

(2.0)

—

(†)

Plays

56

(1.4)

45

(2.2)

42

(2.3)

44

(2.2)

—

(†)

59

(1.4)

63

(2.3)

67

(2.1)

61

(1.8)

—

(†)

63

(1.0)

70

(2.1)

67

(1.6)

72

(2.0)

—

(†)

Biographies

45

(1.5)

47

(2.1)

46

(2.4)

49

(3.0)

—

(†)

62

(1.3)

68

(1.7)

65

(2.6)

72

(2.1)

—

(†)

59

(1.2)

69

(1.8)

66

(1.7)

70

(1.9)

—

(†)

Science books

84

(1.3)

87

(1.8)

83

(2.2)

80

(1.6)

—

(†)

90

(1.1)

92

(1.4)

90

(1.9)

89

(1.2)

—

(†)

70

(1.1)

84

(1.9)

82

(2.0)

84

(1.3)

—

(†)

Books about other times

79

(1.2)

79

(2.0)

78

(1.6)

79

(1.9)

—

(†)

83

(1.1)

83

(1.8)

84

(1.8)

84

(1.3)

—

(†)

81

(0.9)

82

(2.0)

81

(1.9)

81

(2.0)

—

(†)

Frequency of reading for fun

Total

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

Daily

53

(1.0)

58

(1.6)

54

(1.9)

54

(1.6)

54

(1.6)

35

(1.0)

32

(1.8)

32

(1.9)

28

(1.7)

30

(2.0)

31

(0.8)

30

(2.6)

23

(2.0)

25

(1.7)

22

(2.0)

Weekly

28

(0.8)

25

(1.5)

27

(1.8)

26

(1.5)

26

(1.2)

35

(1.2)

32

(2.1)

31

(2.1)

36

(1.7)

34

(1.9)

33

(1.1)

31

(1.9)

32

(2.7)

28

(2.7)

30

(1.9)

Monthly

7

(0.6)

5

(0.6)

8

(1.0)

6

(0.6)

7

(0.5)

14

(0.8)

14

(1.7)

15

(1.4)

17

(1.6)

15

(1.2)

17

(0.5)

15

(1.5)

17

(1.5)

19

(1.7)

15

(1.6)

Yearly

3

(0.3)

3

(0.6)

3

(0.5)

4

(0.7)

5

(0.7)

7

(0.5)

10

(1.2)

9

(1.2)

10

(1.2)

9

(1.1)

10

(0.5)

12

(1.5)

12

(1.6)

12

(1.4)

14

(1.5)

Never

9

(0.5)

9

(0.8)

8

(0.8)

10

(0.8)

8

(0.8)

8

(0.6)

12

(1.7)

13

(1.5)

9

(1.4)

13

(1.3)

9

(0.6)

12

(1.4)

16

(2.1)

16

(2.4)

19

(1.8)

Reading of books, newspapers, and magazines

Total

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

—

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

—

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

—

(†)

Yearly/monthly

59

(1.5)

64

(1.8)

67

(2.3)

63

(2.6)

—

(†)

30

(1.5)

34

(2.5)

32

(2.6)

32

(2.3)

—

(†)

20

(1.0)

22

(1.7)

25

(2.1)

26

(2.1)

—

(†)

Weekly

31

(1.5)

27

(1.8)

22

(1.9)

27

(2.4)

—

(†)

49

(1.1)

47

(2.5)

47

(2.2)

49

(2.2)

—

(†)

53

(1.2)

55

(2.3)

52

(2.6)

52

(2.2)

—

(†)

Daily

11

(0.9)

9

(1.3)

10

(1.2)

11

(1.2)

—

(†)

21

(1.1)

19

(1.7)

21

(1.7)

19

(1.9)

—

(†)

27

(1.3)

23

(1.8)

23

(1.9)

21

(2.1)

—

(†)

Time spent on homework

Total

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

100

(†)

None

35

(1.3)

32

(2.1)

26

(1.6)

26

(1.6)

21

(1.5)

22

(0.7)

23

(1.4)

22

(1.8)

24

(1.2)

20

(1.3)

22

(0.9)

23

(1.4)

23

(1.4)

26

(1.0)

26

(1.0)

Didn't do assignment

4

(0.3)

4

(0.4)

4

(0.3)

4

(0.3)

3

(0.3)

4

(0.2)

6

(0.6)

5

(0.5)

5

(0.4)

6

(0.4)

11

(0.3)

11

(0.6)

13

(0.6)

13

(0.7)

13

(0.6)

Less than 1 hour

41

(1.0)

48

(1.7)

53

(1.5)

53

(1.4)

59

(1.4)

36

(0.6)

34

(1.0)

37

(1.2)

37

(1.4)

40

(1.2)

26

(0.4)

27

(0.9)

28

(0.9)

26

(1.0)

28

(0.7)

1 to 2 hours

13

(0.4)

11

(0.7)

13

(0.7)

12

(0.7)

13

(0.6)

29

(0.5)

28

(1.0)

27

(1.2)

26

(1.0)

26

(1.0)

27

(0.5)

26

(1.2)

24

(1.0)

23

(0.8)

22

(0.9)

More than 2 hours

6

(0.2)

4

(0.4)

4

(0.3)

5

(0.5)

5

(0.3)

9

(0.3)

9

(0.7)

8

(0.9)

8

(0.8)

8

(0.5)

13

(0.6)

13

(0.9)

11

(0.7)

12

(0.9)

11

(0.6)

— Not available.
† Not applicable.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
NOTE: The NAEP reading scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Students scoring 150 (or higher) are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Students scoring 200 are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. Students scoring 250 are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. Students scoring 300 are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. Includes public and private schools. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP Trends in Academic Progress, 1996 and 1999; and NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved July 2005. (This table was prepared February 2006.)